Shock Culture
by MMastafii
Summary: 'This definitely isn't how I remember these stories.' I have no clue where I am. One minute I'm home safe and sound. Next minute I'm in the devil's editions of THE SIMS fighting for my life. Why do my friends seem to think this is normal? I don't feel so good.


Part 1

"Can someone please wake up that goddamn slacker!"

A dull object struck the top of my head and I lurched in retaliation.

"Whaaat the hell!" I gradually opened my eyes, rudely awoken from my slumber. Then it dawned on me. SHIT. I must be in class right now. Mr Felton is going to kill me. Although the scene that awaited me when I opened my eyes, was much worse than anything Mr Felton could do to me.

I immediately noticed how dark my surroundings were, with specks of lights only coming from distant features which could not be identified. I looked around my class and something was definitely wrong. The whole class, the chairs, the desks, the blackboard, even the fucking pupils and teacher, were floating in what seemed to be the vacuum of space.

I fell off my chair and was greeted to a roar of laughter from my peers. Well I assumed they were my peers, I didn't get the chance to tell, I was more worried about where I fucking was. I rapidly tapped the surface which I landed on. It felt solid but I couldn't tell you what it was made of. The floor made no sound whatsoever and had no distinct sensations.

I stood up and walked away from my desk to the source of one of the lights at the edge of the classroom, my mind drowning out the loud chatter from the pupils and the teacher. I stood at the edge, away from the clutter of the classroom and looked upon the vastness of space. An incredible violet nebula cloud encompassed most of my vision. Its complex formations spread out like the roots of a great tree. It looked majestic. Beyond it, beautiful stars were visible, scattered in the background, not just white as you might see usually grounded and shrouded by the atmosphere, but unshackled and free; varying greatly in colour and intensity, as much as the nature of space would allow.

Although I assumed this was nature. As I recollected myself, I knew nothing about this situation even seemed faintly 'natural'. I turned back to my floating but weirdly-bound-by-gravity classroom. I looked first at my peers. I recognised every single person. David, Matt, Jay– My entire English class was present. They all looked at me like a mentally ill person though. I certainly felt like one. I noticed the teacher, however, was definitely not my English teacher. A woman in her 40s stood at the front of the class, I didn't recognise her, but she had a vulture-like face and seemed to know me well.

"Something wrong, Azrael?" She scorned. "You're disrupting the lesson again. SIT DOWN." With lightning speed, she threw an enormous book at me, which hit me straight in the face. This was followed almost immediately by another roar of laughter from the boys. I took this as my cue to sit back at my seat. Although this place was messing with my head, I thought it would be better to deal with it after the lesson.

Mrs Vulture (I decided to call her that after she hit me) summoned the book back to her hand. Which would have surprised me if I wasn't sitting at a desk in the middle of fucking space with a nebula up my ass.

"Now, who can tell what to do in the event they encounter a Royal Wyvern." A picture of the beast appeared on the blackboard as she asked the question. It looked familiar but I still had no clue what the aim of the question was. This seemed straight out of a fantasy.

Multiple people in the class raised their hands. What the hell, some of these idiots wouldn't even answer questions on Romeo and Juliet, let alone Wyverns.

"I would subdue it with a grapeshot bomb and slash at its wings to prevent it from flying, before finishing it off," said Matt. This jock is usually the moron of every class, how is he answering these questions!?

"Very good, but don't forget you shouldn't run straight into battle. If you had time you should find a Witcher, pay him coin and take advantage of his silver sword and -" The bell rang. Nothing special, just a regular old school bell. Thank god. It was enough normality to keep me sane. Everyone immediately stood up to leave and carried out with them what looked like swords, spears, light machine guns and a plethora of other colourful weapons. That sense of normality I just got, safe to say it was gone.

"Please go straight to your next lesson, I don't want anyone idling around. There's no time for that"

One by one, each student walked out of the room through a translucent door which appeared the second the bell rang. As I followed them, Mrs Vulture gave me a dirty look. I was smart enough to know not to mess with teachers and especially not ones which wielded the force, or whatever the hell that was.

The door led to a pure black corridor. The beauty of space gone and replaced by an unnatural strip speckled with fire-proof school doors with small enough windows just so the room beyond was visible. I looked back at the class I just exited. The violet nebula danced elegantly in my face, as I became mesmerised once again.

"Az, you're acting weird again man. C'mon, we got practicals next." It was David.

I looked at my friend, but he seemed different. His eyes were weary, and he had fresh crimson scars on his cheek. The youthful vigour I also became accustomed to, seemed to be replaced by a strong sense of responsibility and maturity. Behind this exterior, I could still tell my friend was there.

I cried. Not just a few tears, but I released everything at David. I fell on his shoulder, He didn't know what do other than pat me awkwardly.

"They finally broke you then," David said sombrely

"Huh?" I didn't understand what that meant, I wiped the tears. Crying definitely didn't help the situation. I still stood in the supernatural corridor, no closer to figuring out where I was.

"Look, man, we can talk after the practicals. I'm really sorry for whatever you are going through. I promise to listen to everything. You know we're on a deadline, though right? We really need to get going."

I looked at him with puffed eyes and looked around the corridor once again. None of my classmates were around. I nodded. I didn't know what I was agreeing to, but the promise of explanation or at least a normal conversation comforted me.

I followed David through the corridor and glanced at each of the rooms we passed. Some led to lush forests, others to dry deserts and even more space. Some doors led to rooms of pure black and pure white and these seemed the eeriest, as they gave off an immense unnatural vibe.

Luckily, we entered one of the rooms of pure black…

A faint untraceable light illuminated the enormous enclosed area, only accentuating the black floor and black walls. The 18 others from my English class stood in a line, in front of another unknown teacher. David dropped his bag and quickly joined the line. I followed suit, I didn't have a bag? So just ran to the back of the line.

"Azrael, here please." The muscular male teacher pointed at a position just behind Matt in the front of the line.

"You should know your position by now." The teacher scanned me before speaking loudly again. "Where the hell is your goddamn equipment, son!?"

"I Uhh, lost it."

"Jesus Christ take mine for now, but after this is practical, I need to have a word with you. It's like you want to die." He unsheathed a longsword from his back and gave it to me. My hands almost fell off as I gripped the immense weapon.

"You know the drill." The teacher addressed the class. "Choose your opponent and win. No matter the cost. BEGIN!" At that moment, Matt stabbed the blunt end of his trident down on the floor and his school clothes transformed into a golden armour made up of hundreds of fish scales, and his legs were covered by sturdy green leggings. Aquaman? This bully was definitely no hero, so why did he look remarkably similar to one?

This is where I truly lost it. Directly over Matt's shoulder, I spotted a selection of other individuals. Each looking as vicious as the next. The true monsters seemed to be sat on the benches on the side, shackled in chains. The ones I recognised included, the Lord of Mordor himself, Sauron and a Sith Lord, Darth Bane which I am familiar with from a comic I once read and threw away. I must be dreaming. They looked more terrifying than any of their interpretations to date and reeked of an intense evil aura.

Matt walked straight past the high danger villains, to the row of monsters and people directly ahead. These individuals were supposedly less dangerous but seemed equally as terrifying to me. Some looked like deformed humans, others had the physique of a troll, while some were pure skeletons wielding scimitars. They seemed to be ordered by strength, with the skeletons residing at the bottom of the line. Matt went straight for the weakest. That's quite unlike him; in the school gym, he would always go for the most physically intense activity just to prove a point to others.

I quickly realised this wasn't the school gym. As Matt began the fight with the skeleton. It seemed to fight with all its intensity. Swinging its scimitar with lethal force, looking to kill. My insides flipped as I stared at the razor-sharp ends of each of their weapons. This was for real. The thought of one of those weapons piercing my body or cutting my limbs entered my mind, I had to look away or I would have thrown up there and then.

A few moments later a loud crashing of bones ensued, and when I looked up, that's exactly what happened. Matt walked back with a cocky look on his face after having swiftly defeated the skeleton.

"NEXT!"

Everyone looked at me. I took a few unsure steps, gripping the longsword with both hands, using all my strength to keep it steady. I decided to just go with it. The most logical thing would be to fight the skeleton again (which just reformed itself). I know its attack patterns I could use that, yeah, yeah sounds good. NOT. I had no idea how to fight and was scared shitless just looking at these things.

I tripped over. No roaring laughter this time though. Instead a deafening silence. At first, I noticed the ragged black cape, which caused me to fall. Then I looked up and truly accepted my time to die.

"So you have chosen death." The voice shattered my eardrums not from its volume but due to the sheer evilness and weight instilled upon it. I wanted to curl up and cry. I slowly turned my head towards the voice. It was Sauron, in all his glory. His demonic mask looked directly at my soul and he stood up from his seat, towering many inches above me.

"NO" I shouted instinctively "No this is not who I choose." Sauron sat down. I couldn't tell his expression of course, but he gave off a low growl.

What the FUCK.

I ran away from the bench of villains, towards the 'minions.' I had to find a way to avoid fighting. I noticed a selection of five doors behind the line of fighters. My survival instincts told me to check them out. Anything to prolong what little life I surely had. I shimmied past the minions, who looked at me with disgust and yearning.

The doors were labelled as scenarios. What could this be? I looked back at the teacher. He watched me intently with his clipboard interested in my current actions. Obviously, I had not done anything wrong yet. Scenario 1 – Animal lovers. Scenario 2- Home is where the heart is. Scenario 3- Marco Polo. I didn't even look at the others. I wanted nothing more than to go home, and 'home is where the heart is' looked a damn sight better than any of my other options.

I opened the door; a bright light invaded the dark arena and revealed the interior of a beautiful well-lit suburban house. My feet moved by itself desperate to reach this oasis. The door slammed shut behind me and became the front door of this house. I looked around, the house seemed perfect. Everything was organised neatly, and the furniture immaculate; as if no one actually lived here, but instead the place still got managed regularly by someone. For a Tv-set maybe? Regardless the sun shone brightly through its four-pane windows and the house seemed to have an inviting atmosphere. I could start a family here. Maybe I will.

Before I could move another step. I stopped dead, as I got the worst urge, I ever had in my life to pee; an overwhelming desire to sleep, a hunger which seemed as if I hadn't had a bite of food in years and intense depression and loneliness that I had never felt before. As I withered in the pains of all these sensations, a profound smell entered my nose, which almost finished me off. It was my own body odour, pungent and horrific, and emitting green vapours from under my armpits. My mind entered fight or flight mode. The flight in me said just lay down and die. The fight, however, caught on to something. The fictional people I saw earlier, this perfect house, these particular sensations. This must be the Sims. Only at its worst and most life-threatening.

Adrenaline took over my actions. I had to deal with my basic necessities. It made sense now, a perfect house but a neglection of the people within it! I peed on the spot _(BLADDER ++)_ and instantly dropped in my own puddle of piss to close my eyes and sleep _(ENERGY ++)_. This was survival. Sleeping meant my hunger would be suppressed and I also couldn't smell myself or face the fact that I was extremely down to the point of suicide. After what felt like 12 hours, I awoke and ran to the fridge stuffing myself with pizza and breakfast burritos which conveniently appeared out of thin air. I sat on the floor as I indulged on every single piece of food around me. _(HUNGER++)_ My mouth was covered by an assortment of sauces and ingredients and when I finished, I leaned my head on the fridge door as I let out a tear from how good the food tasted _(FUN +)_ but also how I was stripped off my dignity in one fell swoop _(SOCIAL -)_

To be honest why am I even trying? Nothing mattered. No one actually likes me _(SOCIAL -)_. I mean who would even notice if I disappeared _(SOCIAL -_). Yeah, it's true and I know it. No one has visited me in years _(SOCIAL -),_ I got no friends, no family, no job, NOTHING. Where did these pills come from? _(SOCIAL -)_. Hmm a cyanide capsule. Just what I needed. Put it in my mouth and everything will be over. Suddenly a knock on the front door. The postman! (SOCIAL ++). My life just got saved by the mail.


End file.
